THE STORY
You are on a journey to find The Sanctum, a place of glorious freedom, colour, beauty, purpose and joy.
You are in a large building, perhaps a castle, with a number of rooms, passages, and gardens. You have to make your way through locked rooms, narrow passages, and apparent dead ends. When you successfully navigate through the building, you will find what your heart most desires.
Warning: Do not stop too soon.
THE SECOND ROOM
After a time swimming and relaxing in the pond you found, floating peacefully, listening to the waterfall, you swim to the edge opposite where you entered. It is the only other accessible place to exit the pool. A folded towel lays on top of a rock. Looking around, you dry off. Very quickly, your clothes are dry. And clean. There are no more smudges.
You notice a path leading away from the pool and follow it, now hungry and ready for a little company. The path winds through a long, narrow garden until it ends at an old wooden door. You open it and step through into a large, beautifully decorated room. In some ways it is the like the first room, the Common Room. It, too, has various areas with books, games, snacks, quiet nooks, and, off to one side, an exercise or athletic yard. But here, there are no smudges.
You head to the ‘kitchen’ area and fix yourself a snack and a drink, then relax in an easy chair near a lamp and a bookshelf. You rest, feeling light and peaceful.
Later, you venture into the athletic yard and find a basketball game in process. You sub in for someone and enjoy the exercise and camaraderie. Laughing and joking, you re-enter the main room with your team-mates and chat over cold drinks.
Soon, everyone wanders off to something else that grabs their interest.
STIFLED
Some time later, you notice the room seems warmer. The air begins to feel stale and close, the light dim, and the background noise irritating.
You look around. Everything is the same.
Predictable.
Repetitive.
Almost too comfortable.
You start to feel stifled. The air seems thicker, cloying. Your lungs have to work harder to get the oxygen you need.
You rise and search for a window to open, let some fresh air in.
But there are no windows.
Even the door you entered by seems to have disappeared.
A desire to escape rises in you. But you are trapped.
Suddenly you realise there must be a way out as a person or two who were here earlier are nowhere to be found. Where did they go?
Starting to feel claustrophobic, you intensify your search for an exit. 
Propped against a lamp you see a card. “I am the Way,” it reads.
Who is “I”? What “Way”? A way out? You turn the card over but the back is blank.
You approach people you had chatted with earlier, asking about the card. They are not interested or have no idea who “I” is. You ask the basketball players. They, too, are no help, and are not sure why you want to know. They invite you to play another game. You are tempted but your chest feels tight. You need more air. Why is it so close in here??
You search the room with your eyes again … and notice a man seated near the kitchen area watching you. You frown. You are sure he was not there earlier. You shrug then approach him. You notice he is wearing a shirt with an image of a path stamped on the upper left chest, over his heart.
You show him the card. “Who is ‘I’ on this card?” you ask. “And what is the ‘Way’? I need to get out of here. Maybe this person can show me the Way out.”
The man smiles. “Yes. Seek Him and you will find Him. His Way is narrow. Few find it. But He is not far from you. ”
You frown. That is not much of an answer. You look around again. No one is near. When you look back the man is gone.
THE NARROW WAY
As you stare at the spot the man had occupied, something catches your attention. Behind where he was, a tall, narrow, cupboard stands against the wall. Narrow. So narrow it seems inconsequential. But something about it is off. You approach and examine it. It seems embedded in the wall, built in, but surely it is deeper than most walls are? You prod it and poke at it. Pull on it. Push. Nothing. Then, etched lightly into the edge of a shelf at chin level you see an ’S’. On the shelf below it you barely discern an ‘F.’ ’S’? ‘F’? You recall the man’s words. “Seek Him and you will find Him.”
You press the ’S’ and feel a slight click. You press the ‘F.’ Another click. The cupboard moves backward into the wall slowly then moves to the side, exposing a narrow blackness. But a puff of fresh air emerges, tickling your face.
That feels good!
You gage the space. Narrow indeed. You turn sideways and try to enter, though you only see darkness beyond. But the fresh air!
The wallet in your back pocket catches. You step back and take it out then try again. Your belt buckle catches. You take off your belt, dropping it on the floor. Each time you try to get through, something else prevents you. Each time the fresh air calls you and you take off the impediment and try again.
You try again to push through the narrow opening. 
Push! The edges scrape your skin, but you push through. It feels like your whole self is being exposed, scraped back – everything extraneous to the essential you sloughed off.
You’re in!
You push further in … and then you are through, bursting into an open space!
Blessed fresh air, cool, refreshing, holding a light soothing moisture, washes over your scraped skin and fills your aching lungs.
You take a deep breath and feel rejuvenated.
You look around. Golden light suffuses everthing. The ground is soft on your bare aching feet. A white robe hangs on a hook to your left. You put it on and its soft folds embrace you. Something in its texture is like balm on your wounds.
You take a deep, deep breath.
Again.
You wonder what of you is left. You will find out.
You look around.
You are in an open, outside space. A stream chuckles quietly nearby.
Peace fills you.
You have escaped the Second Room.
